Oil stove burner mechanism



1 w. T. BRADBURY 2,063,722

OIL STOVE BURNER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 29, 1934 Wallam TB/ndbwy, 5 {flu-Mm M Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OIL STOVE BURNER MECHANISM Application September 29, 1934, Serial No. 746,176

7 Claims. '(01. 158-42) This invention relates to improvements in oil stoves and particularly to a so-called wickless type burner and the mechanism for operating the same.

Ordinarily, the wickless type of oil burner comprises a bowl having a relatively deep annular channel therein arranged to contain a supply of fuel for immediate combustion. The height of the flame produced by the burner is regulated by varying the amount of fuel in the annular channel and this is generally accomplished by raising or lowering the burner bowl with reference to a constant level supply source of the fuel, the source and the bowl being, of course, suitably connected. The ultimate aim of the invention is to provide an improved manually operable mechanism applied, in this instance, directly to the burner to effect a raising or lowering of the fuel level therein.

2 In prior devices of this character various expedients have been employed to control the raising and lowering of the burner, but disadvantageous features such as expensive construction, slow operation, inaccuracy of adjustment and 25 tilting due to strain have been inherent in many of these devices.

The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a new and improved means for adjusting the burner, which is inexpensive to ation, and which is easily and conveniently operable to raise or lower the burner to any desired position within a defined range of movement and this with only a relatively small movement of the operating handle.

A particular object of the invention is to provide operating means for a burner of the foregoing character employing few parts of a simple and inexpensive character.

Another object is to provide a burner mechanism of the foregoing character which is simply and compactly constructed and is efficiently arranged to permit ready assembly or disassembly as required.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burner mechanism which is characterized by case of operation and durability of construction, and in which the pressure for raising and lowering the burner is so applied as to prevent tilting or twisting of the burner bowl.

Other objects and advantages will become ap- 1 parent in the following description of an exemplary form of the invention and from the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a sectional elevation through a pormanufacture and positive and accurate in oper-' tion of a stove and showing details of construction of the improved burner mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, partly in section, of the burner mechanism.

Although the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown and herein described in detail, the preferred embodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the inventionto the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the embodiment of the invention shown for purposes of illustration, [9 designates an annular burner bowl of trough-like formation mounted for independent movement vertically with respect to a fixed constant level supply (not shown) and providing seats at its upper edges for the usual chimney unit (not shown). At one side the trough is connected by means of the usual telescoping pipe connection |2 with an elongated fuel supply pipe l3 extending longitudinally of the stove body and disposed rearwardly of afront plate M. which is rigid with and forms a part of the main supporting frame of the stove. To support the burner for vertical movements, I provide an upright standard l5 disposed central- 1y 0f the burner bowl and depending into a housing I6 coacting with the standard to guide the burner as the same is raised and lowered. The standard also forms a part of my improved raising and lowering means comprising generally a pinion l1 fixed upon the rear end of an operating shaft I8 and coacting with a rack I9 carried by the standard, the forward end portion of the shaft being extended through the front plate l4 and provided with an operating handle 20.

The housing i6 is preferably in the form of a substantially rectangular open faced box-like structure formed of suitable sheet metal and comprises a main body plate 2| provided with laterally bent marginal upper and lower flanges 22 and 23, respectively, and side flanges 24 and 25, respectively. To connect the housing I6 to the stove framework, an L-shaped bracket 21 is connected by a bolt 28 to the flange 24 while a bolt 29 rigidly secures the bracket to the rear face of the front plate M. To guide the standard [5, which is preferably of channel-shape cross section, the flanges 22 and 23 of the housing are provided with alin-ed guide slots 30 and 3 5, respectively. These slots so and. 3! are of. a shape to receive the standard l5 with only a slight clearance to permit the same to be slidably reciprocated therein, but preventing the standard from tilting.

At its upper end, the standard 55 is provided with a head 34 of substantially the same width as the inside dimensions of the bowl id. The upper edge of the head it has an integral horizontal flange 35 which is secured diametrically across the lower face of a flat perforated plate rigid with the upper inner edge of the burner bowl iii. Lateral flanges 36 along the edges of the standard l5 follow the contours of. the head E i and are secured at their ends as by Welding to the op posite lower edges of the bowl it. Thus, the burner bowl is rigidly supported by the standard 85 and will be prevented from tilting or twisting relative to the standard due to accidental causes or from the weight of the superposed chimney which is commonly supported full upon the bowl.

The weight of the burner bowl and standard is supported primarily by the pinion i i through the rack it, and a salient feature of the invention resides in the arrangement of the rack and pinion in substantially the center of, the total gravitational and frictional forces which must be overcome in the operation of the device. To the accomplishment of this end, a longitudinal slot if) is formed centrally of the body of the standard 55, and the rack 59 is formed as an integral part of one longitudinal edge of the slot. Preferably, the standard i5 is formed of suitable sheet metal and the slot to and rack H] are out by a simple stamping operation, the rack being adjacent that edge of the standard which is nearest the extensible connection l2. This position of the rack i9 is preferred because the drag on the burner bowl it caused by the frictional contact of the packing in stuffing box 42 which is fitted about the telescoping ends of the connection restrains the free raising or lowering movement of the bowl and shifts the center of operating force toward the one side away from the center of gravity of the bowl.

The pinion H, which may be stamped from suitable sheet metal, is disposed Within the slot 49 in the plane of the body of the standard it and has its axis at the center of gravity of. the burner bowl and Standard. Rotation of the shaft i8 by means of the handle 2! will cause the pinion i! to move the rack 59 up or down as desired, and the pinion will abut the upper or lower edges of the slot 48 at the extreme limits of movement to which the reciprocations of the standard must be confined.

In the present instance it has been found desirable to provide a correlated relationship of the length of the slot 4-8 and the ratio of the rack and pinion teeth which will permit the full raising or lowering of the burner by merely half a turn of the pinion ll. Hence, the handle 2b which is shown as a lever having an indicator point 4% at its upper end, need be manipulated only through an arc of 180 to cause movement of the burner from one extreme limit to the other; and rela tively small movements of the handle will rapidly shift the burner to the desired operative position. Because of. arrangement of the pinion ii in the plane of the body of the standard i 5 overrunning of the pinion relative to the rack it? will be prevented thereby avoiding bending of the teeth. Thus, even though the teeth of the pinion and rack may not be formed with perfect accuracy due to the simple stamping operation by which they are formed, yet because of the described arrangement theywill be maintained in proper meshed relationship at all times.

In order to maintain the shaft H3 in a fixed axial relationship relative to the housing 16, a fixed U-shaped bracket 1-3 is suitably apertured to receive the inner end of. the shaft and provide a bearing ii adjacent the pinion ii. The ends of the bracket 46 are provided with laterally extending flanges 48 secured to the inner face of the body 2% of the housing as by means of spot welds Z9. Intermediate its ends the shaft I8 is supported by the housing body part 2i which is suitably apertured for the purpose and provides a bearing for the shaft. Consequently, while the weight of the burner bowl and standard is pri marily supported by the pinion ii and the shaft 58, the housing it will nevertheless carry this weight through the described bearings for the shaft.

I provide means for counteracting the weight I of the burner and standard so as to retain the pinion and shaft it at any given position to which they may be adjusted by manipulation of the handle 25 and, in the present instance, this means comp-rises a bowed flat spring 55 which is suitably apertured to freely receive the shaft. The ends of the spring 5i abut against the outer face of the housing body plate 2!, while a collar 52 which is held in place on the shaft 58 by suitable means such as a cotter pin 53 provides an abutment for the central portion of the spring. Substantial pressure is exerted by the spring against the collar 52 thereby forcing the shaft if! to the right as viewed in Fig. 2 and causing the pinion I? to bear against the bearing member 3?, and the frictional contact thus established is sufficient to maintain the desired position of the mechanism subject to change by manipulation of the operating handle.

For the purpose of rigidifying the structure, I provide means for supporting the fuel supply pipe is within the housing it. Thus, the vertical flanges 2 and 25 of the housing are cut away at their lower edges to provide a clearance between the lower horizontal flange and the vertical flanges to form, in effect, horizontally spaced notches 55 and 56 respectively, for snugly receiving the pipe to hold the same against vertical. movement. An angular bracket 5'! is secured by bolts 58 to the inner face of the body 2i of the housing and an outer flange 59 of the bracket embraces the fuel supply pipe E3 to prevent horizontal movement thereof out of position within the housing.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that I have provided an oil burner mechanism which is simple and sturdy in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and dependable in operation. The parts of the mechanism are rela tively few in number and provide a compact readily assembled unit in which every element is efliciently utilized.

I claim as my invention:

3.. In a burner mechanism of the character described. a burner bowl providing a peripheral fuel trough and having a hollow interior open the bottom, a member bridging the upper part of said bowl, and a vertical sheet meta standard having a head portion centrally supporting said bowl and including an upper horizontal flange secured to said member, said head portion having flanges at its side edges engaging with the sides of said bowl and providing additional connection between the standard and bowl.

2. In a burner mechanism of the character described, an annular burner bowl, and a vertical thin metallic standard of channel-shape axially supporting said bowl near its upper margin, the body of said standard being substantally narrower than said bowl and having means at its upper end extending laterally of the body rigidly secured to the lower margin of the bowl at diametrically opposite sides thereof.

3. In a stove structure of the character described, a substantially box-shaped housing including a vertical body plate having a pair of spaced vertically extending lateral flanges and a pair of spaced horizontally extending lateral fianges, alined guiding slots in said horizontally extending flanges, a burner and an elongated supporting standard therefor slidably mounted in said slots, a horizontally extending fuel supply pipe connected with said housing and having an extensible connection with said burner, said vertically extending flanges being cut away at their lower edges to form notches which cooperate with the lowermosthorizontal flange to engage said pipe and prevent relative vertical movement between said housing and pipe, means secured to said housing and engaging said pipe to prevent relative horizontal movement of said pipe, means fixedly connecting said housing to the stove structure, and means operable to move said standard and burner vertically.

4. A liquid fuel stove structure comprising, in combination, burner mechanism embodying a supporting structure including a pair of substantially spaced horizontal plates having axially alined apertures therein spaced rearwardly of the forward margins of the plates and a vertical member. rigid with said forward margins said member including an aperture in line with the axes of said alined apertures and havingbearing means rigid therewith and spaced rearwardly therefrom, a burner and an elongated standard centrally supporting said burner and slidably mounted in said alined apertures, an elongated element passing through the aperture in said member into coacting relation near its rear end with said bearing means and having means on its forward end for manually operating the same, means fixed upon the rear end of said element and engaging said standard for moving the latter vertically, a horizontal fuel pipe lying forwardly of the axis of said standard and having an upright extensible connection with said burner, means coacting with said vertical member to engage a substantial longitudinal portion of said fuel pipe at a plurality of diametrically opposite sides thereof to prevent relative horizontal or vertical movement between the pipe and said supporting structure during operation of the mechanism, and means fixedly connecting said supporting structure to the stove structure.

5. In a stove structure of the character described, a supporting structure including vertically spaced guiding elements, a burner and an elongated vertical supporting standard slidably mounted in said guiding elements, rotary means including an elongated shaft and an element in engagement with said shaft and operable to impart reciprocal movement to said burner and standard, a stationary abutment in axially fixed relation intermediate the ends of said shaft, resilient means bearing against said abutment with force applied longitudinally of the shaft and serving to create frictional resistance to rotation in said rotary means to maintain the same and thereby said burner and standard in any given adjusted position, and means fixedly connecting said supporting structure to the stove structure.

6. In a stove structure of the character described, a supporting structure fixedly connected to the stove structure, a burner and an elongated vertical supporting standard therefor slidably mounted in said supporting structure, a rack formed on said standard, manually operable means including a transversely extending rotary shaft and a pinion fixed upon said shaft and engaging said rack to reciprocate said standard upon rotation of said shaft, means providing a bearing for said shaft and also a friction surface abutment for the adjacent face of said pinion, and means operating to maintain continuous frictional engagement between said friction surface abutment and said adjacent face of said pinion for retaining the pinion in any given position of adjustment against downward force exerted by the weight of said, burner and said standard until said manually operable means is operated to rotate said shaft and said pinion.

'7. A liquid fuel stove structure comprising, in combination, burner mechanism embodying a supporting structure including a pair of substantially spaced horizontal plates having elongated axially alined apertures spaced substantially rearwardly of the forward margins of the plates, a vertical plate rigid with said forward margins and having an aperture axially disposed on a line with the axes of said alined apertures, means rigidly supported by said vertical plate and including a bearing part substantially spaced rearwardly from the latter plate but lying'forwardly of said alined apertures, a burner and a flattened elongated standard centrally supporting said burner and slidably mounted in said alined apertures, a horizontally extending fuel supply pipe connected with said supporting structure and having an upwardly extending connection with said burner, said standard having a longitudinal slot of predetermined length and breadth and a toothed rack on that longitudinal edge of the slot which is nearest the axis of the gravitational and frictional forces arising during movement of the mechanism, a rotatable shaft having operat ing means on its forward end and passing through the aperture in said vertical plate and being supported near its rear end by said bearing part, the extreme rear end of said shaft extending into said longitudinal slot in the standard and having a coaxial pinion rigid thereon lying in the plane of said standard and meshing with said rack for moving the standard vertically upon rotation of the shaft, said pinion being stopped by engagement with the respective opposite ends of the slot after a partial revolution in either direction so as to: limit vertical movement of said standard, and means fixedly connecting said supporting structure to the stove structure.

WILLIAM T. BRADBURY. 

